Internet/intranet-connected apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus that uses the Internet protocol, TCP/IP, for a home control network. The invention also provides embedded servers, email clients at the electrical boxes. The invention integrates the Internet to the electrical outlet, switch, or appliance boxes using a low cost embedded web server.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a division of application Ser. No. 10/214,086, filed on Aug. 6,2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,555 granted on Jul. 20, 2010.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to home networks and more particularlyto TCP/IP-enabled electrical boxes for controlling and monitoringlighting, outlets, and servers via the home Intranet or Internet.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Current home or industrial networking technologies have two separatenetworks. One network connects the PCs to the Internet via a dial-upphone, cable, xDSL, or Ethernet connection, and another network such asCEBus™, LonWorks™, or X-10™ controls appliances or equipment. CEBus™ wasdeveloped by the Electronics Industries Association, LonWorks™ wasdeveloped by Echelon Corp. of California, and X-10™ components aremanufactured by X-10 Limited of Hong Kong. When one wants to remotelycontrol the appliance via the Internet, one needs a converter, aspecialized gateway, or software in a computer to interface between theInternet and the other networks.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,862 shows one popular protocol calledX-10™ used in homes to control lights and appliances. It uses dedicatedtransmitters at various locations in the home to control slave receiversthat are designed to plug into the electrical outlets or designed toreplace existing switches or outlets. The protocol is very restrictiveand cannot handle very much data since it transmits 120 data bits/s overthe existing power lines. To communicate on the Internet, a PC orsimilar device with proprietary software is needed to convertinformation and control data from the X-10™ system to the Internet.Similarly, LonWorks™ and CEBus™ are two other networks that are beingused in the home to control lights and appliances.

U.S. Patent Application 2001/0034754 A1 defines a specialized gatewaybetween CEBus™, LonWorks™, or X-10™ and the Internet as an attempt tosolve the issue of remotely controlling the lights and appliances.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,779 discusses remotely controlling home electricaloutlets and appliances by the CEBus™ protocol and proprietary BAN,Broadcast Access Network. A converter is needed to link the two systems.U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0002627 A1 describes a scheme tocontrol devices remotely, but uses a home protocol as described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,991,795, and a specialize gateway called emGateway™. U.S.Patent Application No. 2002/0027504 A1 describes an embodiment thatallows devices attached to the Internet to communicate to dedicatedsensors via a site controller that translates the wireless sensorsinformation to the Internet. This also is a dedicated proprietary devicethat requires specialized software.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,448,B1 describes a process device, which is attachedto a process communication network and then to the Internet via aprocess communicator. The process communication network is one of thefollowing types: low-speed Fieldbus protocol H1), high-speed Fieldbusprotocol (H2), or similar types. The process communicator converts theprocess communication protocol from each node link, which containsInternet address information to Ethernet data network, which connects tothe Internet, Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,057 B1 describes anelectronics meter, which incorporates a TCP/IP protocol suite and anHTTP server to provide direct access to the meter data via the Internet.However, it too relies on a specialized gateway to a non-TCP/IP networksuch as CEBus™.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,487 talks about incorporating a web access in a widevariety of devices including office equipment, home-based equipment, andlab equipment, as well as a variety of other types of devices commonlythat provide device specific user interface functions. Office equipmentdevices typically include printers and copiers. Home-based devicesinclude home entertainment equipment such as televisions, videorecorders, and audio players as well as security systems, andappliances. Lab equipment includes measurement devices such asoscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers. Web server functionality embeddedin the device allows a web browser to access user interface functionsfor the device through a web page. These types of devices have thecomputing power, or can be easily added to the device, to provide webserver functionality. U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,487 further describes devicesthat control the user interface to the device but does not describecontrol of house lighting and electrical outlets or control of power tothe device. In fact, every home appliance or home entertainmentequipment must have this web server functionality to control itsoperation via the Internet. This would limit such control to deviceswith this web server functionality and would not allow control ofexisting home appliances or home entertainment equipment.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,479 B1 describes a home network with browser-basedcommand and control for TV or audio equipment that uses a softwareagent. A software agent is executed on the client device to cause a userinterface to be displayed on the client device. The devices described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,198,479 B1 are entertainment equipment, and the homenetwork is the Internet within the home which connects PCs. The controlof home entertainment equipment would be limited to devices with thisspecialized software agent and would not allow control of existing homeappliances or home entertainment equipment.

All previous art describes systems that require a specialized converteror gateway to translate the home control network such as CEBus™, X-10™,and LonWorks™ to the TCP/IP protocol of the home Intranet network orrequires that the TCP/IP protocol be incorporated in the appliance orhome device. The major disadvantage of the current approaches is thatthere are too many different types of home networks. Each type ofnetwork has specialized controllers to control the electrical load. Theproprietary converters or gateways require specialized software for thedifferent networks, and this specialized software needs to be updatedwith new software when new devices are added to these home controlnetworks. The consumer may be overwhelmed with what equipment topurchase, and in many cases a specialist would be required to installand verify the proper operation. Also, with TCP/IP embedded in the homeappliance or equipment, the existing home appliances and equipment couldnot be controlled over the home Intranet. Therefore, there exists a needfor an apparatus that incorporates the TCP/IP protocol into the homeelectrical boxes so as to have the same home Intranet that connects PCs,printers, and other web appliances to be used for control over existinghome appliances, entertainment equipment, and electrical loads. Using astandardized TCP/IP protocol for the home control network would allowthe use of standardized web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Exploreror Netscape Communicator to view the electrical load status or tocontrol the AC electrical load without using a dedicated controller or aweb-based home appliance or equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments described herein are capable of solving the problemscited above. One example embodiment is an apparatus that uses a commoncommunication standard for information, such as the TCP/UDP/IP protocol,to control electrical loads and/or sensors, to monitor a house or otherdwelling or structure using sensors, and to provide numerous othercapabilities when attached to the Internet or Intranet. The apparatus ismountable within an electrical box, in particularly, a standard ACelectrical box.

Certain embodiments may integrate the TCP/UDP/IP protocol in theelectrical outlets, switches, and other electrical boxes. With thiscapability, the home Intranet used to connect Internet appliances suchas PCs, printers, and others can be used also for controlling andmonitoring the electrical connections in the electrical boxes.

Certain embodiments may incorporate a web server in the electrical boxto monitor and control items attached or connected to the electrical boxvia a web browser. This web browser can be executing on, for examples, alocal PC connected to the home Intranet or a remote PC connected to theWorld Wide Web, the Internet. The web browser can request informationfrom the apparatus called AC power circuit using the HTTP protocol. Theapparatus within the electrical box can respond with an HTML or XMLformatted web page. The web page may contain CGI or otherserver-controlled capabilities to allow control of an attachedelectrical load, to change information on the web page, or to alter themonitoring sensor characteristics.

Certain embodiments may provide e-mail capability in the electrical boxto send e-mail upon activation of a light switch, a motion sensor, orany other attached sensors, or programmed conditions. One can monitorthe electrical power status of the light, HVAC system, or attachedappliance, and send e-mail if the attached device is not working orconsuming too much electrical power. In addition, one can send e-mail tothe electrical box to turn an electrical load ON or OFF, to updatestored information such as a software program attached to the e-mail, orto accomplish a number of other tasks associated with e-mail capability.With a camera sensor designed within the AC power circuit, one can sende-mail with attached picture to indicate the presence of schoolchildren, for example.

Certain embodiments can control lights, outlets, and electrical boxesvia a connection to the Internet or Intranet whether the connection iswithin the home or remote. An application program on a device such asthe PDA, PC, laptop, or web-enabled phone may communicate directly tothe electrical box via a protocol such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP. Each ACpower circuit within each electrical box may have a unique IP number bywhich any device using an instant messaging protocol can control theelectrical box's AC power to its electrical load, can check the sensorincorporated within or attached to the electrical box, or can transmit avoice message. In one embodiment, the electrical box is controlled usingthe Internet protocol and instant messaging capability. AnyInternet-connected devices with an instant messaging protocol such asAOL instant messaging, Microsoft instant messaging protocol, or someother instant messaging scheme can control the attached appliances tothe electrical box. A web browser is not needed to display a web page inthis particular configuration. The AC power circuit within theelectrical box can send status information upon an instant messagingrequest from the Internet-connected device. This allowsInternet-controlled devices with small screens such as web-enablephones, PDAs, or web-enabled pages to control the lights and appliancesin the home.

Certain embodiments can collect information on an attached sensor orelectrical load and store it within its memory until a pre-programmedtime interval, pre-programmed amount of data, or some other event thatindicates the AC power circuit to transmit the information to someserver for data collection or requested to do so by a web client orInternet-connected device. With this capability, the AC power circuitcan monitor such thins as the amount of electrical power consumed by theattached device, the number of activations of a switch, the number oftimes a room is occupied, the number of times an electrical outlet isused, the temperature of the room, the number of times an appliance isbeing used and at what times. With this information, people candetermine the amount of electrical power consumed by the household andwhat appliances are the major users. Homeowners or occupants candetermine which rooms are being heated or cooled, and which rooms areoccupied. By examining this information, one can determine theefficiency of the HVAC system. Other information can be collected tohelp the home occupants live a better life.

Certain embodiments can use wired and wireless home Intranettechnologies as the network interfaces of the AC power circuit. Wiredtechnologies such as phone lines, Ethernet (CAT 5 cable), and powerlinecommunication technology are a few of the current types. Phone linestechnology utilizes the existing telephone networks to transmit data.Ethernet wired technology uses a dedicated cable such as CAT5. Newerhomes are being built with CAT5 cabling throughout the homes. PCs,printers, and the electrical boxes described herein may be connected viaa hub. Powerline technology uses the existing electrical wires totransmit data.

Wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (known as wireless Ethernet),HomeRF™ (developed by HomeRF Working Group), and Bluetooth™ (BluetoothSignal, Inc.) are some of the current types that can be used.

Some embodiments may utilize single-wire connection or dual-wireconnection to the AC power circuit. Using single-wire AC power circuitallows for incorporating the TCP/IP capability in older homes usingwireless or powerline communication technologies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit of one exampleembodiment showing the basic circuit blocks.

FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective view showing an installation of theAC power circuit of FIG. 1 in the electrical box attached to the ACpower lines and the Intranet/Internet.

FIG. 3 is an overall diagram of electrical boxes and loads connectedwirelessly via the home Intranet and the AC electrical power, accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an overall diagram of electrical boxes and loads connectedwith the AC electrical power and the wired home Intranet.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit controlling electricalloads.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit controlling anelectrical load in a series AC configuration.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the Internet Stack using UDP and TCP as thetransport protocols, the IP as the network protocol, and illustratingthe data link layer protocol such as Ethernet, PPP, and the applicationlayer such as HTTP server, or SMTP e-mail.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit showing some possibleapplication programs run on the microcontroller that control someelectrical loads and/or receive information from sensors.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit showing that theTCP/IP stack in the network interface block and attached to the homeIntranet via phone lines.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit connected to the homeIntranet via power lines.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit connected to the homeIntranet using a wired Ethernet connection.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit connected to phonelines and controlling an electrical load.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit connected wirelesslyto the home Intranet using Bluetooth™.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the AC power circuit connected wirelesslyto the home Intranet using wireless Ethernet, IEEE 802.11.

FIG. 15 is a schematic of one implementation of the AC power circuitthat is connected to the home Intranet via a wired Ethernet connection.

FIG. 16 is a schematic of one implementation of the AC power circuitthat is connected to the phone lines and controls an electrical load inseries with the circuit.

FIG. 17A is an installation of the integrated AC power circuit with anelectrical switch within an electrical box with a wireless connection tothe home Intranet.

FIG. 17B is an installation of the AC power circuit and an electricalswitch within an electrical box with a wireless connection to the homeIntranet.

FIG. 18A is an installation of the integrated AC power circuit with anelectrical switch within an electrical box with a wired connection tothe phone or Ethernet.

FIG. 18B is an installation of the AC power circuit with an electricalswitch within an electrical box with a wired connection to the phone orEthernet cable.

FIG. 19A is an installation of the integrated AC power circuit with anelectrical receptacle within an electrical box and is connected with awired connection to a home Intranet.

FIG. 19B is an installation of the AC power circuit with an electricalreceptacle within an electrical box and is connected with a wiredconnection to a home Intranet.

FIG. 20 is an installation of the integrated AC power circuit with anelectrical receptacle within an electrical box with a wirelessconnection to a home Intranet.

FIG. 20B is an installation of the AC power circuit with an electricalreceptacle within an electrical box with a wireless connection to a homeIntranet.

FIG. 21 is an installation of the AC power circuit with a camera sensorinstalled in the electrical box and is connected wirelessly to a homeIntranet.

FIG. 22 is an overall diagram showing the home network attached to theelectrical boxes with a wired connection and also connected to the worldwide Internet.

FIG. 23 is an overall diagram showing the home network attached to theelectrical boxes with a wireless connection and also connected to theworld wide Internet.

FIG. 24 is an overall diagram showing a wireless home network attachedto electrical boxes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematic of an AC power circuit 40 in whichAC power from AC source leads 118 a and 118 b is applied to the AC powercircuit 40, which is connected to the Internet/Intranet 50 via acommunication connection 114. The AC power circuit 40 includes a powernetwork 80, a microcontroller 30, and a network interface 34. The powernetwork 80 provides low voltage through line 82 to operate themicrocontroller 30 and network interface circuitry 34. Themicrocontroller 30 contains an Internet protocol stack 31 and anapplication program 33. The microcontroller 30 is connected to thenetwork interface 34 via a connection 84. The microcontroller 30 runsone or more application programs 33 that can respond to a web browserrequest or an internet request, send e-mail, collect data, control anattached appliance via the Internet/Intranet, receive sensor informationfrom attached sensors, or accomplish a number of different tasks.

The AC power circuit 40 is installed in an electrical box 48 as shown inFIG. 2. The AC power is provided via lines 118 a and 118 b. Thecommunication connection 114 to the Internet/Intranet can be wired orwireless as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 shows a wireless attachment to the Internet via amodem/router/hub 150. The wireless Intranet communication connectionsare via antennas 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, and 158. Electrical boxes 100,102, 104, and 106 are connected via the AC electrical wires 118. Theelectrical boxes 100, 102, 104, and 106 contain the AC power circuit 40,which can control the lights 160, 161, and any attached appliances suchas a TV 162 or a Personal Computer 164. Each AC power circuit 40 can becontrolled via local control such as a switch, or the PC 164 via thehome Intranet, or by remote control via the Internet connection 115. Thewireless communication can be HomeRF™, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth™, or anyother wireless Internet technology.

FIG. 4 shows a wired attachment to the Internet via a modem/router/hub154. The wired Intranet communication connection 117 may be via phonelines, fiber, coax, or Ethernet cable. The electrical boxes 122, 124,and 126 contain the AC power circuit 40, which can control the light160, and any attached appliances such as a TV 162 or PC 164 via localcontrol such as a switch or local intranet PC 164 or by remote controlvia the Internet connection 115. The wired communication technology canbe Ethernet, HomePNA™ (HomePNA Working Group) or any other wiredInternet/Intranet technology. Also, the wired attachment to the Intranetcan use the same wires as the electrical power. This communicationtechnology is known as powerline communication.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematic of an AC power circuit 41 in whichAC power from AC source 118 a, 118 b, 118 c, and 118 d is applied to theAC power circuit 41 and electrical loads 60 and 61. The AC power circuit41 is connected to the Internet/Intranet 50 via a communicationconnection 114. In addition to the power network 80, the controls relays56 and 57, which supply AC power to an electrical load 60 via a line 116c and to an electrical load 61 via a line 116 d. In this embodiment, theAC power circuit 41 can control the electrical loads 60 and 61 by theInternet/Intranet 50. The AC power circuit 41 could be incorporated inan electrical box that uses parallel connections to the AC power sourcelines 118 a and 118 b which connects to lines 116 a and 116 b,respectively, of the AC power circuit 41. Typical applications for theAC power circuit 41 are a switch box with both power lines available oran electrical outlet box.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematic of an AC power circuit 42 in whichAC power from AC source 118 a and 118 c is applied to the AC powercircuit 42 and the electrical load 60. The AC power circuit 42 isconnected to the Internet/Intranet 50 via communication connection 114.The AC power circuit 42 contains the power network 80, themicrocontroller 30, the network interface 34, and the relay 56. The ACpower circuit 42 is attached to the AC power lines 118 a and 118 c inseries with the electrical load 60 via line 116 c. Typical applicationsfor the AC power circuit 42 are in switch boxes that only have seriesconnections to the electrical load. This is common in older homes.

The microcontroller 30 in the AC power circuits 40, 41, and 42 has theInternet stack (TCP/UDP/IP) 31 and application programs 33. FIG. 7 showsthe software layers that illustrate the Internet stack 31 andapplication programs 33 contained in the microcontroller 30. FIG. 7 alsoshows the network interface and some possible communication protocolssuch as Ethernet, PPP (phone line), powerline, IEEE 802.11, HomeRF™, andBluetooth™. The microcontroller 30 can contain one or more possibleapplications such as Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server, FileTransport Protocol (FTP) capability, Simple Mail Transport Protocol(SMTP) capability, and others. The microcontroller 30 can contain theTCP/IP stack or UDP/IP stack, or a combination depending on theapplication program as illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram schematic of the possible configurations toan AC power circuit 45. The AC power circuit 45 can control differentelectrical loads such as a light 62, a heater 64, an electrical motor66, or any other electrical appliance 60.

The microcontroller 30 that is contained in the AC power circuit 45 canrun an e-mail application program 37 that sends out information uponsome condition. For example, if the motion sensor 72 detects somemovement in an area, or if the smoke detector 76 indicates a fire, ane-mail can be sent to alert the proper agency for assistance.

The microcontroller 30 can run a web server application 139 with a webpage 39. The web server application 139 receives HTTP commands throughthe network interface 34 that specifies a predetermined InternetProtocol (IP) number for the AC power circuit 45. Web clients to readinformation from the AC power circuit 45, such as the status of the ACpower to the electrical load, may use the HTTP commands. HTTP commandsmay also be used to transfer information to the AC power circuit 45 suchas information that controls the electrical load or sensors.

In response to an HTTP request, the AC power circuit web serverapplication 139 generates a web page 39 that specifies interactions tothe attached electrical load and sensors. The web page 39 is a HypertextMarkup Language (HTML) formatted page or an eXtensive Markup Language(XML) formatted page. The network interface 34 transfers the web page 39to the web client that requested the information via theInternet/Intranet 50.

FIG. 8 also shows various connected sensors to the microcontroller 30such as a current sensor 90 for monitoring the electrical power used bythe electrical load, a temperature sensor 70 for indicating the indooror outdoor temperature of a room, a motion sensor 72 to detect movementwithin the room, a switch 74 for locally activating the AC power to theload, a smoke detector 76 to detect the presence of a fire, a camera 92to provide observations in the room, a microphone 94 to monitor theaudio within the room, and many other types of sensors 71. Themicrocontroller 30 can be programmed to communicate to other AC powercircuits in other electrical boxes to allow multiple actions to occurupon a sensor detecting a condition. For example, the microcontroller 30can be programmed to detect movement within the room by the motionsensor 72 in one electrical box to activate lights in other electricalboxes within the house via the home Intranet. In addition, themicrocontroller 30 can be programmed to send an e-mail to the owner ormonitoring company that someone is present in the home.

In another embodiment, the network interface 34 contains the TCP/IP andUDP/IP stacks instead of the microcontroller 30. FIG. 9 shows anembodiment of an AC power circuit 47 with TCP/IP contained in thenetwork interface 34. This embodiment uses a commercially availableintegrated chip 180 that is denoted as S-7600A made by SeikoInstruments, Inc. The power network 80 provides the necessary lowvoltage power for supplying the various integrated circuits. In thisembodiment, the AC power circuit 47 is attached to the home Intranet viaphone lines 119 a and 119 b. The Internet modem chipset 182 and 184 thatcommunicates between the integrated chip 180 to the phone lines are fromSilicon Laboratories, and are demoted as Si2400 and Si3015. The modemchipset 182 and 184 provide connect rates of up to 2400 bps, full duplexover the telephone lines 119 a and 119 b. Other modem chipsets canprovide higher data rates. Block 186 provides the necessary circuits tointerface to the phone lines according to FCC part 68 specifications.

In another embodiment, the network interface 34 is connected to the homeIntranet via the power lines. FIG. 10 shows this embodiment where an ACpower circuit 49 connects to the home Intranet via electrical powerlines 118 a and 118 b. The network interface 34 contains powerlinechipset 200 and 202 from Intellon and is denoted as INT 5130, anintegrated powerline transceiver, and INT1000, an analog conversionintegrated circuit. The powerline chipset 200 and 202 are connected tothe electrical power lines 118 a and 118 b via an analog front end 204and a power line coupler 206. The Internet stack is in themicrocontroller 30. The microcontroller 30 in FIG. 10 is a MicrochipPIC16F877.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment where an AC power circuit 141 isconnected to the home Intranet via an Ethernet cable 114. In thisembodiment, the microcontroller 30 is an Atmel 908815 and has memory 300that is external to the microcontroller 30 for storing a web page. Inaddition, the microcontroller 30 controls loads 304 via a driver 302.Sensors 71 are connected in this embodiment. The network interface 34uses a Realtek Ethernet Controller 310 and interfaces to the homeIntranet cable using 10baseT Interface 312.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment where the AC power circuit 142 isconnected to the Intranet via phone lines 119 a and 119 b via a modemmodule 337. The modem module 337 is a Cermetek CH1786LC. Themicrocontroller 30 is a Microchip PIC16F877 and has software, whichimplements the TCP/IP stack. In this embodiment, the microcontroller 30is programmed to control the relay 56 to supply power to an electricalload attached to line 118 c. A web client or device attached to theIntranet/Internet can control the relay 56 via the Intranet/Internet.

FIG. 13 shows another embodiment where an AC power circuit 143 isconnected to the home Intranet via a wireless connection 400. Asingle-chip Bluetooth™ transceiver 339 is the network interfaceconnection to the home Intranet. The transceiver 339 in this embodimentis a Broadcom BCM2033 and provides short-range communication with PCs,laptops, PDAs, peripheral devices, and embedded devices.

FIG. 14 shows another embodiment where an AC power circuit 144 isconnected to the home Intranet via a wireless connection 510. Thewireless chipset 500 and 502 uses a Marvell 88W8200 baseband controllerand Marvell 88W8000 transceiver to form an IEEE 802.11 wirelessconnection.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment where an AC power circuit 145 isconnected to the home Intranet via a wired Ethernet connection 616. FIG.15 is a schematic of the circuitry that implements this embodiment. TheAC power lines 118 a and 118 b provide electrical power to the circuit.A capacitor C1 drops the high voltage AC to low voltage AC. Diodes D1-D4convert the AC power to DC power. A capacitor C2 acts as a filtercapacitor, and a diode D5 limits the DC supply. The microcontroller 30interfaces with an EEPROM 614 and an Ethernet Controller IC 612. As showin FIG. 15, the microcontroller 30 in this schematic is a MicrochipPIC16F877 and the Ethernet controller 612 is a Realtek RTL8019. Themicrocontroller 30 is programmed to act as a web server with the webpage stored in the EEPROM 614. The microcontroller 30 communicates tothe home Intranet and the Internet through the wired Ethernet connection616. A coil 610 isolates the home wired Intranet from the Ethernetcontroller 612. In this embodiment, the AC power circuit 145 acts a webserver.

FIG. 16 shows another embodiment where an AC power circuit 146 isconnected to the home Intranet via wired phone line connections 119 aand 119 b. FIG. 16 is a schematic of the circuitry that implements thisembodiment. In this embodiment, the AC power circuit 146 controls anelectrical load such as a light 62. This is a single wire connection tothe electrical load 62. In this embodiment, a power network, which ismade up of capacitor C1, resistor R1, diodes D1-D4, capacitor C2, andzener diode D5, supplies low voltage power to the microcontroller 30 anda modem module 675. The power network steals a portion of the AC powerfor powering the circuitry. A triac 656 controls the power to theelectrical load 62 when activated by the microcontroller 30 via a triacdriver 655.

FIGS. 17A and 17B show two alternative installations of an AC powercircuit with a electrical switch and both installations use a wirelessconnection 710 to the home Intranet and are installed in an electricalbox 48. In FIG. 17A, the switch is integrated with the AC power circuitand forms a standalone switch module 700. In FIG. 17B, a switch 720 isnot integrated in an AC power circuit 722. FIG. 17A shows theinstallation of the switch module 700 into the electrical box. FIG. 17Bshows the installation of the standard electrical switch 720 and the ACpower circuit 722 into the electrical box 48. In both cases the ACelectrical supply is provided by lines 118 a and 118 c.

FIGS. 18 A and 18B show two alternative installations of an AC powercircuit with an electrical switch and both installations use a wiredconnection 730 to home Intranet and are installed in the electrical box48. In FIG. 18A, the switch is integrated with the AC power circuit andforms a standalone switch module 702. In FIG. 18B, a switch 720 is notintegrated in an AC power circuit 725. FIG. 18A shows the installationof the switch module 702 into the electrical box 48 and how the switchmodule 702 attaches to the home Intranet via connector socket 706. Theconnector socket 706 slides over the electrical box 48. A home Intranetcable 730 connects to the socket 706. FIG. 18B shows the installation ofthe standard electrical switch 720 and the AC power circuit 725 into theelectrical box 48. The home Intranet cable 730 connects to AC powercircuit 725 via the socket 732. In both situations, the AC electricalpower supply is provided by lines 118 a and 118 c.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show two alternatives installations of an AC powercircuit with an electrical receptacle into an electrical box 48. Bothinstallations use wired connection 758 to the home Intranet. In FIG.19A, the receptacle is integrated with the AC power circuit and forms astandalone receptacle module 750. The connector socket 756 slides overthe electrical box 48. The home Intranet cable connects to the socket756 with a connector 758. FIG. 19B shows a receptacle 760 is notintegrated in an AC power circuit 764. FIG. 19B shows the installationof the standard electrical receptacle 760 and the AC power circuit 764into the electrical box. The connector 758 connects to the AC powercircuit 764 via the socket 765. In both schemes, the AC electrical poweris provided by lines 118 a and 118 b.

FIGS. 20A and 20B show two alternatives installations of an AC powercircuit with an electrical receptacle into an electrical box 48 and bothinstallations use wireless connections to the home Intranet. In FIG.20A, the receptacle is integrated with the AC power circuit and forms astandalone switch module 770. The wireless Intranet connection isthrough an antenna 774. FIG. 20B shows a receptacle 760 is notintegrated in an AC power circuit 762. FIG. 20B shows the installationof the standard electrical receptacle 760 and the AC power circuit 762into the electrical box 48. The wireless Intranet connection is throughan antenna 768. In both schemes, the AC electrical power is provided bylines 118 a and 118 b.

FIG. 21 shows the installation of an AC power circuit 800 into anelectrical box 48. In this configuration, the AC power circuit 800supports a camera sensor 810 and a wireless Intranet connection via anantenna 814. This embodiment would allow monitoring a room via theelectrical box 48 installed in the home via the home Intranet webbrowsers or remote web browsers. One can detect an unwanted guest ormonitor children after school.

FIG. 22 shows the connection of many AC power circuits such as AC powercircuit 750 via an electrical box 48 in a home control and Intranetnetwork 940. A computer 902 can browse the Internet 550 and connect to aweb server 910 as is typical of today's networks, but also can controlor monitor the electrical outlets and switches contain in electricalboxes. The house wiring 930 is showed connected to a central breaker boxor house electrical panel 932. A modem 920 is connected to the Internet550 via an ISP provider. The modem 920 may be built inside the AC powercircuit in some embodiments. A remote web browser 900 can also monitorand control the electrical loads in the home 950 via the Internet 550.

FIG. 23 shows the connections of many AC power circuits such as AC powercircuit 770 via an electrical box 48 in a wireless home control andIntranet network 924. The computer 902 can browse the Internet 550 andcontrol the home electrical loads in the home 950.

FIG. 24 shows an embodiment where the home uses the Internet protocoland is not attached to the World Wide Internet. In this embodiment, thehome wireless Intranet 958 communicates to the different electricalboxes and personal computer 902. FIG. 24 also shows an electrical box 48that contains the AC power circuit 770.

1-35. (canceled)
 36. An apparatus for selectively energizing anelectrical load, comprising: a relay coupled between current leads forcontrolling a flow of current to an electrical load; a networkinterface; a controller configured to enable the relay and receive anHTTP command via the network interface and generate an HTML file inresponse to the HTTP command; and circuitry coupling the relay, thenetwork interface, and the controller, wherein the HTTP commandspecifies a URL corresponding to the circuitry.
 37. The apparatus ofclaim 36, wherein the relay comprises a thyristor.
 38. The apparatus ofclaim 36, wherein the network interface comprises a standardInternet/Intranet network interface coupled to the controller.
 39. Theapparatus of claim 38, wherein the standard Internet/Intranet networkinterface operates according to a TCP/IP protocol.
 40. The apparatus ofclaim 38, wherein the standard Internet/intranet network interfaceoperates according to an UDP/IP protocol.
 41. The apparatus of claim 38,wherein the controller comprises at least one of an embedded controller,an embedded computer, a microcontroller, or a microcomputer.
 42. Theapparatus of claim 36, wherein the controller comprises: a storagedevice that stores a set of instructions; and at least one processorcoupled to the storage device, the at least one processor beingoperative with the set of instructions in order to execute anapplication.
 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the applicationcomprises a web server.
 44. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein theapplication comprises a Simple Transport Mail Protocol application. 45.The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the application comprises a FileTransport Protocol application.
 46. The apparatus of claim 42, whereinthe application comprises an instant messaging application.
 47. Theapparatus of claim 36, wherein the network interface receives the HTTPcommand across a wired connection.
 48. The apparatus of claim 38,wherein the network interface receives the HTTP command across awireless connection.
 49. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein theelectrical load is an AC electrical load.
 50. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the circuitry further couples the controller to a power network,the power network being configured to provide voltage to operate thecontroller.
 51. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the controller isconfigured to interface with an EEPROM.
 52. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the controller is configured to interface with an Ethernetcontroller.